Entertainment

Learn how these classic 'Star Wars' sets were rebuilt in 'Disney Infinity 3.0'

Disney Infinity 3.0 grows on Sept. 29 with the release of Rise Against the Empire, a "Toy Box" set that adds a new story to the game based on the original Star Wars trilogy. It was exclusive to PlayStation for the first month of 3.0's release, but that exclusivity ends now.

To help get you in the mood for Disneyfied Star Wars shenanigans, we nabbed a few early concept images from the game. Some you may have seen before, but others — specifically, Endor and Tatooine — we're debuting for the first time. To go along with the images, we've got words from the dev team at Avalanche Software and Studio Gobo about how these "Infinitized" locations came together.

Disney Infinity 3.0 launched earlier in September. It's the first in the series to take advantage of Disney's ownership of the Star Wars license, and it goes all-in with familiar characters, vehicles, locations and more from the epic sci-fi saga.

We enjoyed the game overall, though the (now corrected) lack of Original Trilogy elements and aging foundation left us hopeful for a deeper evolution in an unannounced-but-surely-coming 2016 release. Scroll down for a look at all the pics, as well as comments from the dev team.

Image: Disney Interactive

Concept Art: EndorMike Thompson, Game Director, Avalanche Software

"In Endor, we went for a very toy like aesthetic and a vertical feel to the environment supporting many game play types. You can fly from the tallest point of Bright Tree Village using the glider pack, rail slide, climb ladders, and use ropes, bouncy drums and elevators to navigate the play space. We have some fun huts where the player can customize Ewoks to their desired look.

"We also incorporated some great track designs where you can race around on the speeder bike and fight the Imperials near the AT-AT platform. This gameplay also includes AT-ST battles, where the player can take them over and use that vehicle against the Imperial forces.

"Bright Tree Village and the Imperial compound are designed to be toys so the player can interact with them like a jungle gym. All of the designs were built around the player metrics for jumps, climbing, rail slides and other types of interaction."

"The placement and variety of closely spaced buildings in Mos Eisley provided interesting moment-to-moment gameplay through traversal from rooftop to rooftop. Not only can you explore the streets and narrow alleyways of Mos Eisley, but you can also navigate spaces vertically giving lots of different and interesting vantage points.

"We were also really inspired by the initial concept, which allowed you to see key landmarks from the hub of Mos Eisley — such as Jabba's palace, the Sand Crawler, the Sarlacc Pit and Jabba's barge, to mention a few. Technically, it was a challenge to try and render all of the key landmarks in view from a central Hub. Yet we felt it was important for the open-world, sandbox feel we wanted to achieve in this space to do just that.

"The open nature of this level also allowed us scope to explore Tatooine in the first flying vehicle we present the player with, and teach controls for flying vehicles early on in the play experience."

"The Cantina at Mos Eisley is, we hope, a sympathetic fan service that we knew we simply had to include in the play experience. In many ways, we hoped to service that familiar fantasy of actually being in the cantina.

"Everyone remembers the moments from this sequence in the original movie: the atmosphere and sights and sounds of Mos Eisley, and particularly the cantina and the Cantina Band. The music is something you always think of and associate with the Cantina, so we wanted to feature that in the gameplay as a fun and light touch for the players."

"For the space combat sequences, at Studio Gobo, we developed a spline based space combat system. The design intention was to create gameplay sequences that felt like the thrill you get from riding a roller coaster.

"You are always moving forwards, so it’s all about the second-to-second pacing with big wow moments that surprise and excite the player. These were incredibly development intensive sequences to pull together.

"It required many facets of our team’s expertise to present something not only fun and exciting to play, but also delivering on some of the biggest and most memorable story beats from the franchise."

"The AT-AT battle sequence is an incredibly iconic moment from Empire Strikes Back. We knew from the start that we wanted AT-AT walkers to feature as larger-than-life toys in the Play Set experience, but also to provide unique gameplay opportunities which had not been seen in a Star Wars title before.

"In this Play Set, you can traverse, interact with and destroy these huge toys. Interestingly, Shadow of the Colossus was a big inspiration for us when thinking about the AT-ATs. They are like a giant moving boss level that present the player with lots of different and fun player interactions to explore — and, hopefully, a few surprises along the way."

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